SFE Investment Counsel Cuts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• SFE Investment Counsel cut its Alphabet stake by 3.6% in the first quarter, selling 1,683 shares and leaving it with 45,600 shares valued at about $13.1 million. Alphabet remains one of the firm’s top holdings, representing roughly 2.1% of its portfolio.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive on GOOGL, with several analysts raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at “Moderate Buy.” The average price target is about $414.54, with some firms targeting as high as $465.
• Alphabet is heading into earnings with mixed AI-related news: reports say it is developing a new AI chip and releasing more efficient Gemini models, but there are also concerns about delays and heavy AI spending. Investors are watching the upcoming results closely for signs on cloud growth, AI execution, and capital spending discipline.

SFE Investment Counsel reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,600 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 1,683 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.1% of SFE Investment Counsel's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. SFE Investment Counsel's holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Symmetry Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,476,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the first quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Members Trust Co lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 6,434 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,014,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 7,952 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,489,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corus Family Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Corus Family Wealth Advisors now owns 2,090 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet reportedly developed a new AI server chip, “Frozen v2,” to make Gemini run more efficiently, which could improve margins and help ease compute constraints for Google Cloud. Reuters: Google plans new chip to run Gemini models more efficiently
• Positive Sentiment: Google released new Gemini models, including cheaper and more efficient versions, signaling continued AI product momentum ahead of earnings. TechCrunch: Google releases three new Gemini models
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary remain constructive on Alphabet going into Q2 results, with expectations that Search and Google Cloud can still deliver strong growth. Yahoo Finance: Alphabet Q2 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet’s earnings report on Wednesday is expected to be a major market test for AI spending, cloud growth, and capital expenditure discipline. Invezz: What to expect from Alphabet's Q2 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Alphabet is also facing a cluster of securities-fraud investigation headlines, though these are largely legal overhangs at this stage rather than new operational news. PR Newswire: Securities fraud investigation continues
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that a flagship Gemini model remains delayed, adding to investor worries that heavy AI spending may not translate into results quickly enough. Reuters: Alphabet's Gemini delay, spending worries loom over earnings

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $455.00 target price (up from $435.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Alphabet from $395.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, President Capital increased their price objective on Alphabet from $375.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $414.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total value of $3,142,911.42. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. This represents a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Marsida Saraci sold 449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.72, for a total value of $153,432.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,345,358.56. The trade was a 1.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 159,415 shares of company stock valued at $7,672,279. Company insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $347.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $367.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $338.65. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.46 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a current ratio of 1.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 6.71%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.

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